Morgantown, W.V. (May 20, 2006) Jim Cassidy had made 16 appearances on the mound for USF prior to today's game at West Virginia. But today he started in centerfield and went three for five with three RBI to lead USF to a 9-4 win and the final berth in next week's BIG EAST Tournament at Bright House Field in Clearwater. USF will play league champion Notre Dame Tuesday night.
Sophomore Daniel Thomas (3-6) gave the Bulls six-plus strong innings on the mound to earn the win while allowing just six hits and two earned runs. He struck out six and walked just two. Nick Manganaro and Chase Lirette effectively held the Mountaineers through the final three innings.
USF took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings, including a second inning run on an RBI single by Cassidy. The Bulls took control in the middle innings with two runs in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Leftfielder Josh LeRoy hit a two run homer in the fifth, and Cassidy , who entered with just 20 at bats, his first home run of the year to plate two more in the sixth.
USF's offense pounded out 14 hits, including three from Cassidy, and two from LeRoy, Kris Howell and Brian Baisley. The Bulls' defense also played a role with just one error on a passed ball.
USF will enter the 2006 BIG EAST Championship as the No. 8 seed and will face the regular season champion Notre Dame on Tuesday, May 23 at Bright House Networks Fields in Clearwater, Fla. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Check www.BIGEAST.org for complete brackets and game times.
USF 9, West Virginia 4 (May 20, 2006 at Morgantown, W.Va.)
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USF................. 110 022 201 - 9 14 1 (23-33, 12-15 BIG EAST)
West Virginia....... 001 001 101 - 4 11 1 (35-20, 14-13 BIG EAST)
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Pitchers: USF - THOMAS; MANGANARO(7); LIRETTE(8). West Virginia - FAGLER; HILL(2); KORZUN(6);
SAFFELL(7); RIDGLEY(9).
Win-THOMAS(3-6) Loss-FAGLER(3-5) T-3:20 A-325
HR USF - CASSIDY (1); LeROY (1).
HR WVU - KUHN.
KORZUN faced 2 batters in the 7th.
THOMAS faced 2 batters in the 7th.
